Shoe box or carton



(No Model.)

L. L. DOBLE.

SHOE BOX OR CARTON. No. 585,463. Patented June 29, 1897.

w 5 '7 gr 2/ 1 \X/I E5555: lph/E D d. L- QOL I UNTTE STATES PATENT @rrrea LEONARD L. DOBLE, OF LAIVRENOE,MASSACHUSETTS.

SHOE BOX OR CARTON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 585,463, dated June 29, I897. Application filed February 28, 1896. Serial No. 581,169. (No model.)

This invention relates to boxes such as are.

used by shoe-dealers to contain their goods while in stock; and it has for its object to enable the salesman to readily remove a pair of shoes from its carton without necessarily removing the carton from the shelf, so that when the cartons are piled in tiers one upon another access may be had to the goods contained in a carton of a lower tier without removing those above it.

The invention consists in the improved construction which I will now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a perspective view of my improved carton,

the movable end piece being displaced to expose the interior of the carton. Fig. 2 represent-s a longitudinal section showing the movable end in place to close the carton.

The same letters and numerals of reference indicate the same parts in both figures.

In the drawings, a represents a box or carton composed of four side pieces 2 2 and 3 3 and a fixed end piece 4, said parts being permanently connected and made of such strength and stifiness as that they constitute a practically rigid box, the term rigid being used in the sense that the box is not collapsible under ordinary usage such as a shoe-carton would be subjected to.

To complete the box, I employ a movable end piece 5, which is hinged at one edge to one end of one of the side pieces 3, the hinge being preferably a strip 6 of cloth cemented to the adjacent portions of the said movable end piece and side piece. The movable end piece 5 is formed to close the open end of the box and is provided with a marginal flange 7, which preferably extends around the three free or disconnected edges of the end piece and is formed to enter the open end of the box and bear with suflicient frictional contact upon the interior of the box to hold the movable end piece in the closed position shown in Fig. 2, so that when the movable end piece is in place it is held by friction with sufflcient firmness to prevent it from dropping accidentally. The flange 7 is inclined inwardly toward a line at right angles to the plane of the end piece, 5 in order to make said flange beveled or inclined, whereby said flange will readily enter the open end of the box and bind at its base against the sides of the open end of the box to hold the end piece 5 in place. The portion of the flange 7 which is opposite to and parallel with the hinge is preferably inclined on the arc of a circle of which the hinge is the center, as indicated in Fig. 2. The essential feature of construction is that both the front and rear edges ofthe flange 7 shall engage frictionally with the edge of the portion 3 of the box, so that as soon asthe end piece 5 is turned to close the box, and even a portion of the flange shall have entered the box, the said end piece will be held against dropping outward. Obviously if this portion of the flange 7 were parallel with the portion 3 of the box it would have to be at such a distance from said portion 3 as to permit the end piece or lid 5 to be swung outwardly. This might insure a frictional engagement with the inner edge of the flange, but there could be no frictional engagement when the end piece or lid is pushed entirely in, and therefore the lid would be liable to open at least part way when the box is in the position shown in Fig. 2.

To the interior of the box, at points near its open end, are secured stiffening-strips 8, which serve to some extent to compensate for the absence of the movable end piece when the latter is swung outwardly, thus adaptin the carton to support any weight that is liable to be imposed upon it, such as one or more cartons piled above it, whether the movable end piece be in place or not. Said strips 8 also serve as abutments for the flange of theinovable end piece, preventing the latter from being forced too far into the box.

It will be seen that when the movable end piece is in place, as shown in Fig. 1, said end piece and its flange support and stiffen the open end or mouth of the box.

The convenience of the improved carton for use in retailstores will be readily seen.

The carton maybe made of pasteboard or any of the usual materials employed for receptacles of this character. The free edge of the movable end piece may have a handle g, which may be a strip of tape cemented to the flange 7, for convenience in opening the box.

I claim 1. A shoe box or carton comprising a rectan gular and substantially rigid structure adapted to rest in a horizontal position on a shelf, the front vertical wall or end being hinged to the lower horizontal Wall of the box and adapted to open out in prolongation therewith and provided with an inclined flange opposite and parallel with the hinge, the inclination being such that either the front or rear edge of the flange may bearfrictionally on the inner surface of the front edge of the upper horizontal wall to hold the said front wall in a substantially vertical position to close the box.

2. A shoe box or carton comprising a rectangular and substantially rigid structure adapted to rest in a horizontal position on a shelf, the front' vertical wall or end being hinged to the lower horizontal wall of the box and adapted to open out in prolongation therewith and provided with the flan ge 7 having the portion which is opposite to and parallel with the hinge inclined on the arc of a circle of which the hinge is the center, whereby the said front wall may be turned outward and downward to give access to the contents of the box without removing it from the shelf, and may be turned up to close the box and held frictionally by the engagement of any portion of said flange with the upper horizontal Wall of the box.

3. A rectangular box or carton comprising the four side pieces 2 2 and 3 3 and end piece 4 formed or connected to constitute a practically rigid box, and the movable end piece 5 having a flange 7 at three of its edges and having its fourth edge hinged to one of the side pieces 3, the hinge consisting of a strip 6 of cloth cemented to the inner surfaces of the said pieces 5 and 3, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 20th day of February, A. D. 1896.

LEONARD L. DOBLE.

Witnesses A. D. HARRISON, A. D. ADAMS. 

